Forest Service Auctions Roadless Area’s Timber

Despite protests by Gov. Ted Kulongoski and environmentalists, the U.S. Forest Service auctioned off the first timber from a roadless area of a national forest since the Bush administration eased rules on logging.

Kulongoski said he would seek a court order blocking the harvest, based on a lawsuit that Oregon, Washington, California and New Mexico have filed challenging the legality of the administration’s overhaul of protections for the 58.5 million acres of undeveloped areas in national forests known as roadless areas.